Analytical Procedures for Determining Heavy Metal Contents in Honey: A Bioindicator of Environmental Pollution

Abstract

Metals are pollutant residues detectable in honey and in fact account for most of the inorganic pollutants found in this food product. Metal pollutants can be accumulated through the food chain and, at levels exceeding safe thresholds, can be toxic to humans and even damage physiological functions. During the honey-making process, bees can transport pollutants to the beehive following contact with polluted botanic species or from drinking contaminated water. Detecting very low concentrations is a persisting challenge to accurately measure these elements in honey. Additionally, since honey is a complex organic matrix, treatments are needed prior to applying any classical chemical methods for metal determination, such as inductively coupled plasma and atomic absorption spectroscopy. Therefore, optimal results are dependent on adequate sample conditioning prior to heavy metal content analyses. Chemical pretreatments include calcination processes and/or acid digestion. Regarding execution, the last steps of any metal detection methodology are the primary determinants of result quality, where any loss of mass is reflected by unreliable values.

Heavy Metal Content in PolyfloralHoney and Potential Health Risk. A Case Study of Copșa Mică, Romania

“…The presence of heavy metals in foodstuffs is becoming increasingly more obvious and food consumption represents the main way of access to the human body [1,2] with potentially negative effects on human health, especially because heavy metals de-regulate the immune system [3] and lead to severe diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and neurological disorders [4][5][6]. Heavy metals persist and biomagnify in trophic chains, and when in concentrations above the maximum permissible limits, they become toxic [7]. High concentrations of heavy metals pose a risk to consumer health, while prolonged consumption of honey containing Cu and Fe causes gastrointestinal disorders [8].…”

Determination of Pesticides Residues in Bee Products: An Overview of the Current Analytical Methods

“…Similarly, studies showed that the inorganic content is not dependent on the botanical origin, but rather on the composition of the soils and water in the areas surrounding beehives, and other environmental conditions play an important role in this case [10,22]. Also, honeys that contained metals in their composition showed a decreased antioxidant activity compared with control samples [23]. The same trend was found in bee pollen samples obtained from the same beehives [24].…”

Mineral composition of artisanal and commercial honeys from Venezuela: a comparison of sample pre-treatment strategies

“…Solid phase extraction by the use of mineral acids can be advantageous because it destroys all of the organic matter present in the matrix of honey, thereby reducing analysis time and risks of analyte loss that could affect result reliability, while in calcination procedures, the prevention of losses in the interior of the muffle furnace can be a complex process to regulate, directly affecting the distribution of the data obtained and the variability in the response. Then, these variations constitute another challenge during calcination via a muffle furnace [12]. The determination of inorganic components of honey by Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES) is useful considering the multielement characteristics that permit a rapid analysis, with good precision and accuracy, but, honey is a complex matrix highly rich in organic matter and different strategies for sample treatment have been proposed [29].…”

“…Additionally, the study in all commercial honeys was carried out for Pb, As, Hg, Cd but were not detected. The presence of metals in honey has been linked with the existence of hives close to contamination sources, such as factories, highways, volcanoes, or mines/mine tailings, even pollution sources can also comprise agrochemicals that contain cadmium and arsenic, among others [12,39].…”